Need CCTV cameras with night vision: Traffic police

The driver who had thrown a foetus out of a moving car near Mahim church in April this year would have been identified and caught if the closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera installed at the junction had night vision.

The driver who had thrown a foetus out of a moving car near Mahim church in April this year would have been identified and caught if the closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera installed at the junction had night vision.

The traffic police have installed around 105 CCTV cameras at vital junctions in the city, but the cameras have minimum utility because they are not the advanced versions.

Any CCTV footage is rendered useless, if it is hazy.

Moreover, during monsoon, the traffic police face major problems with clarity as the water affects the lens.

“The images are pixilated and blurred at times. If it rains at night the brightness of the vehicles’ headlights and streetlights render the images unclear,” said Nandkumar Chougule, deputy commissioner of police (traffic).

“If we had night vision cameras we would be able to keep a watch on the roads even at nights from the control rooms, instead of posting our men to stop speedsters and robbers,” he added.

There is also a need to install back to back CCTV cameras to get better visibility of the road, said traffic police officers.

“A CCTV camera is useful in not just detecting offenders but also during riots and accidents. Had there been a CCTV camera on the junction near Juhu the police could have identified and rescued the two women who were molested by a mob outside JW Marriott on New Year’s eve three years ago,” said Chougule.

The traffic police also want CCTV cameras with a longer back-up memory so that they can keep a record of every incident. “We want at least a seven-day back-up memory,” added Chougule.